Carlo will lead us to a blue era of glory

The Italian’s appointment is set to be announced today after he confirmed yesterday that he was leaving AC Milan.

And fresh from lifting the FA Cup at Wembley on Saturday, Terry said: “Knowing him and knowing us, it could be the start of something very good.

“I think a few of the backroom staff have worked with him before, and Andriy Shevchenko speaks very highly of him.

“If he’s the man to come in, then he’s got a great bunch of lads to come in and work with.

“Each manager has their own tactics and the way they play. They’ll bring that with them.”

Michael Ballack simply wants the Italian to be given time to do the job. Ancelotti will become the SIXTH coach to have taken charge of the team in less than 21 months, having been preceded by Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant, Big Phil Scolari, Ray Wilkins and Guus Hiddink.

And German international midfielder Ballack said: “It looks like he will be our coach.

“I don’t know him but he has great success with Milan and most of the players respect that.

“Ancelotti is that kind of guy who can deal with the pressure.

“We have a great team so there is not too much needing to be done.

“The main thing is that we are changing manager again and we don’t have a lot of time to get to know each other.

“We have seen that last summer with Scolari and every coach needs a bit of time to get across his methods, training style and we all have to adapt to each other. What we really need at Chelsea now is more consistency and for the new manager to be given time to work.

“You need time to adapt to a new coach. There is no guarantee that it will click straight away like it did with (Guus) Hiddink.

“Everyone needs to realise we need consistency and it’s unfortunate that football is dictated by results.

“The first person to come under pressure if the results don’t go well is the manager.”

The Germany captain, who came on as a second-half substitute in the Cup Final win over Everton, also revealed he has agreed a one-year contract extension with the club.

“I have not signed it,” said Ballack, “But everything is OK. I will be here for another year.”

His call for more patience was echoed by team-mate Nicolas Anelka.

The French striker believes the constant changes in personnel at Stamford Bridge have caused as many problems as they have solved.

And he urged owner Roman Abramovich to resist being trigger happy in the future because the players are all craving some stability.

Anelka said: “It could be Ancelotti next, and he would be a good choice.

“But whoever comes in, we will do our best for him and the club.

“We need someone who knows English football, who knows about the English spirit and this club.

“We have had several people in charge in a short time but it is better for the players if the new man has more time, and that he is here for the long term.”